Saturday June 30, 2012 6:03 am

Comic Con International: Ultraverse & Malibu Comics

My good friend Paul O’Connor who used to write for Malibu Comics back in the day and is now one of the founder partners of the app company Appy Entertainment (and creator of the Longbox Graveyard blog), dropped me an email a couple of months ago. He wanted to host a Malibu Comics panel at this year’s Comic Con in San Diego.

2012, it turns out, marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Malibu Comics; the company opened its doors in January 1987 and released its first three books in July of that year: Libby Ellis #1, Stealth Force #1 and Dark Wolf #1.

2012 also marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Ultraverse, Editor-In-Chief Chris Ulm's big idea to launch a writer-based super-hero universe. He started to implement his UV vision in the summer of 1992. The convention season that year was spent rounding up the seven creators who would become the Ultraverse Founders - Len Strazewski, James Hudnall, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Mike Barr, Gerard Jones and James Robinson - which culminated in the first Ultraverse Founders Conference in Scottsdale, AZ.

To those of you who remember the Ultraverse and Malibu Comics and are lucky enough to have tickets to attend Comic Con International in San Diego this year, this is what Paul O’Connor put together for Thursday, July 12.

2:00-3:00pm Malibu Comics Retrospective — This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Ultraverse, just one legacy of Malibu Comics, the groundbreaking independent publisher that also brought us Image Comics, Men in Black, and hundreds of original, creator-owned properties. Malibu founders Scott Rosenberg (president, Malibu Comics), Dave Olbrich (publisher), Tom Mason (VP, Marketing), and Chris Ulm (editor-in-chief) offer a lively discussion hosted by comics blogger Paul O'Connor. Learn about Malibu's place in comics history and their forward-looking attitude toward creator's rights. Hear the war stories, ask your questions, and see rarities from the Malibu vaults. Room 32AB